Followed Paul Rhoads. Matt Campbell raised Iowa State from Regional Program III to National Program I.
I think from my end of it, it means the world to me to understand our history, to understand our past
If we were ever going to leave Iowa State
it was going to have to be a school and an institution that really fit how I believe and what I believe [is the right way to] build culture, how you build a team and how you build forward. I think for the last six months, we've been reminded why it was such a great fit for us at Penn State.
Ben has had a really good spring. Honestly, this is the first offseason that Ben has truly had during his collegiate career. And I think you see it
Marcus Neal, I don’t know if there was a better defensive player in the Big 12 last year
I think that’s the one thing that we were pretty proud of the completion of the current roster was we didn’t just sell out for all seniors. There’s pretty good class disparity
His real stature score, season by season, across every program he’s coached — so a stretch that stays in one tier the whole way can still climb or sink on the line, not just flatten out. Node color marks the tier reached. Which program a stretch belongs to is carried by the shaded lane behind it.
Reached Power Program in his 16th career season — faster than 2% of the 395 FBS coaches who have ever reached Power Program (rank #388 of 395 by seasons-to-arrival).
Where each stint’s offense sat between run-first and pass-first, and how far it moved from one season to the next. The band is that stint’s real season-to-season range, not a fixed-width box.
Season-to-season pass-rate range for all 258 FBS coaching stints with at least three covered seasons, 2014–2025.
How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.
7–9 against his rivals. Just 3–6 against Kirk Ferentz.
A statistical estimate of this coach’s contribution to team performance, separated from that season’s roster talent, returning production, and his coordinators — pooled across his whole head-coaching career.
Model fit as of 2026-09-04.
Fan claims · every quote verified verbatim
I think Penn State will make the CFP this year, because of their easy schedule, and because Matt Campbell is a good coach.
Based on 1 comment from 1 poster across 1 thread · Jul 23, 2026 · via The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football Podcast
4th-best Penn State tenure of 8 by the numbers.
Followed James Franklin (2014–2025).
A portal-built roster.
Brings in bigger-than-position-typical players than most.
Recruits younger transfers than most — more of a development bet.
8 NFL Draft picks: Olaivavega Ioane (2026), Drew Allar (2026), Drew Shelton (2026), Dani Dennis-Sutton (2026), Zakee Wheatley (2026), Nicholas Singleton (2026), Zane Durant (2026), Kaytron Allen (2026)
1st-best Iowa State tenure of 19 by the numbers.
Performs about as expected for his recruiting talent, on both sides of the ball.
Followed Paul Rhoads (2009–2015).
| Season | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record & result | |||||||||||
| Record | 3–9 | 8–5 | 8–5 | 7–6 | 9–3 | 7–6 | 4–8 | 7–6 | 11–3 | 8–4 | |
| Postseason | — | W CFP | L bowl | L bowl | W bowl | L bowl | — | L bowl | W bowl | — | |
| Recruiting rank | #55 | #52 | #55 | #46 | #46 | #59 | #39 | #42 | #53 | #54 | |
| Style — pass rate | |||||||||||
| Pass rate | 46.5 | 52.8 | 43.9 | 54.0 | 45.0 | 52.0 | 54.9 | 49.9 | 48.0 | 42.0 | |
| Coordinators | |||||||||||
| OC | Tom Manning | Tom Manning | — | Tom Manning | Tom Manning | Tom Manning | Tom Manning | Nathan Scheelhaase | Taylor Mouser | Taylor Mouser | |
| DC | Jon Heacock | Jon Heacock | Jon Heacock | Jon Heacock | Jon Heacock | Jon Heacock | Jon Heacock | Jon Heacock | Jon Heacock | Jon Heacock | |
| Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile | |||||||||||
| Offense | 64 | 71 | 77 | 64 | 92 | 87 | 7 | 73 | 61 | 52 | |
| Defense | 24 | 68 | 58 | 40 | 88 | 56 | 73 | 49 | 21 | 71 | |
| Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script (2021+ only) | |||||||||||
| 1st-down pass% | 37.9 | 43.5 | 37.8 | 49.4 | 37.1 | 44.1 | 44.4 | 43.1 | 37.6 | 35.9 | |
| Red-zone pass% | 40.0 | 47.5 | 32.8 | 45.5 | 28.9 | 39.1 | 53.6 | 46.4 | 39.0 | 30.1 | |
| 4th-down go%opp. territory | 32.5 | 29.4 | 32.6 | 32.1 | 35.1 | 35.9 | 44.7 | 20.8 | 35.3 | 39.6 | |
Barely touches the portal — recruits and develops his own.
Brings in bigger-than-position-typical players than most.
A typical class-year mix of incoming transfers.
16 NFL Draft picks: David Montgomery (2019), Hakeem Butler (2019), Kene Nwangwu (2021), Breece Hall (2022), Eyioma Uwazurike (2022), Charlie Kolar (2022), Brock Purdy (2022), Will McDonald IV (2023) + 8 more
6 player-seasons honored (All-America / national award): Breece Hall (2020), JaQuan Bailey (2020), Mike Rose (2020), Breece Hall (2021), Will McDonald IV (2021), Xavier Hutchinson (2022)
7th-best Toledo tenure of 13 by the numbers.
Outperforms his recruiting talent, on both sides of the ball.
Followed Tim Beckman (2009–2010).
| Season | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record & result | ||||||
| Record | 1–0 | 9–4 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 1–0 | |
| Postseason | — | — | — | W bowl | W bowl | |
| Recruiting rank | — | — | — | #92 | #84 | |
| Style — pass rate | ||||||
| Pass rate | — | — | — | 40.9 | 45.5 | |
| Coordinators | ||||||
| OC | — | — | — | Jason Candle / Louis Ayeni | Jason Candle | |
| DC | — | — | — | Jon Heacock | Jon Heacock | |
| Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile | ||||||
| Offense | — | — | — | 79 | 81 | |
| Defense | — | — | — | 73 | 88 | |
| Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script (2021+ only) | ||||||
| 1st-down pass% | — | — | — | 34.6 | 35.0 | |
| Red-zone pass% | — | — | — | 29.7 | 34.2 | |
| 4th-down go%opp. territory | — | — | — | 33.3 | 30.6 | |